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UK mortgage approvals rose to three-month high in September

UK mortgage approvals rose in September to a three-month high, the Bank of England said.

PHOTO: BLOOMBERG

[LONDON] UK mortgage approvals rose in September to a three-month high, the Bank of England said.

Almost 63,000 loans for house purchase were granted, up from a revised 60,984 in August, it said in a report in London on Monday. Economists in a Bloomberg survey had forecast a figure of 61,500.

The report also showed that consumer credit rose £1.4 billion(S$18.5 billion) in September after a £1.6 billion increase the previous month.

The BOE figures suggest that household demand for credit is holding up since the Brexit vote in June. With the economy performing better than expected in recent months, the central bank is forecast to refrain from cutting interest rates this week.

Mortgage lending increased £3.2 billion last month, the most since June. Demand for housing is partly being driven by low borrowing costs. The effective interest rate on new mortgages fell 4 basis points to 2.27 percent in September, the lowest since the series began in 2004.